Best to do Rotterdam Europoort (1hr 15m) as that will leave you enough time for the lunch on Sunday as last check-in is at 19:00.In Zeebrugge (min. 2hrs driving) that is 17:00 which could be a tad tight.Kees Oudesluijs

Not booked yet Clive but, as Kees says Rotterdam is better (you can avoid the Belgian traffic) and the boats are nicer! I shall be liaising with Stuart and Gill Allan but I think we will be going out on the Wednesday night.

Helen wrote:Not booked yet Clive but, as Kees says Rotterdam is better (you can avoid the Belgian traffic) and the boats are nicer! I shall be liaising with Stuart and Gill Allan but I think we will be going out on the Wednesday night.

But then you have the Dutch traffic so best to have a coffee when you get off the boat. When get to Belgium most of the traffic would have gone

Helen wrote:Not booked yet Clive but, as Kees says Rotterdam is better (you can avoid the Belgian traffic) and the boats are nicer! I shall be liaising with Stuart and Gill Allan but I think we will be going out on the Wednesday night.

But then you have the Dutch traffic so best to have a coffee when you get off the boat. When get to Belgium most of the traffic would have gone

Easy from Kent but if you have to travel from North of London there is that nightmare of the M25.

However last summer I travelled from Dover to Luton Airport planning to take the M25 with the predictable hold-ups showing on my satnav and than changed my mind to go straight on to the A20 through the Blackwall tunnel A12-A10 on to the North Circular A406 and up to the M1 near Edgeware. No problem whatsoever!!Relived old memories when I was living in Wood Green two blocks away from the North Circular.Kees Oudesluijs

Helen wrote:Not booked yet Clive but, as Kees says Rotterdam is better (you can avoid the Belgian traffic) and the boats are nicer! I shall be liaising with Stuart and Gill Allan but I think we will be going out on the Wednesday night.

But then you have the Dutch traffic so best to have a coffee when you get off the boat. When get to Belgium most of the traffic would have gone

On weekdays avoid the areas Rotterdam/Den Haag/Amsterdam/Utrecht/Breda/Eindhoven or A2/A4/A12/A13/A15/A16/A27/A58 between 06:00-09:00 and 15:30-19:00, expect multiple delays, not a lot different from the M25!So coming of the ferry in Hoek van Holland or Rotterdam Europoort take your time before setting of further inland although these ports are fairly desolate places. Generally there are no big problems in the weekends.

From the French/Belgian ferries it is more or less the same story with most difficulties around Antwerp/Gent/Brussels or N31/A10/A18/R0/A3.

Hi Colin,It seems the Covid-19 virus is slowing down in the NL but we have not reached the peak of intensive care patients yet. This is expected in a few weeks time. At the moment we have to stay at home until the 28th of April after which the situation will be evaluated by the authorities. I think the situation in the UK is running behind about 2 or 3 weeks compared to mainland Europe. We will wait with our decision on the Autumn weekend until the end of June as at that time we can still cancel the hotel without charges. We will try to postpone that date to late July if the hotel cooperates. However, we have good hope we will be over this virus in time to enjoy the Autumn weekend in September.Regarding Dover/Folkstone-Calais/Dunquerque there are so many possibilities that booking far in advance is not really necessary in my view. Probably a lot less people will be travelling.

An interesting post , Kees. It could be quite prophetic when you conclude by saying not many people may be travelling September time. It is perhaps worthwhile taking a moment to assess where we all are at the moment. Lockdown or quarantine is just a way of slowing the spread of the disease so the numbers of the sick can be , hopefully, reduced at any one time so as not to overwhelm the healthcare services. One day, the politicians will have to decide when to relax the rules and make a judgement call on the pros and cons of doing so. When that day happens will we all rush out , and behave as if nothing has happened; a cure or a vaccine is, we are told , a long way in the future, or perhaps some, maybe a few, perhaps more, will think deeply as to how they wish to proceed with their lives,and reevaluate their priorities and look at risk differently. Older people and those with underlying conditions will remain older and with underlying conditions. Just because government will say travel is allowed again, may not mean that the status quo will return,and therefore, with this post coming to its point, some members may wish to reconsider their travel to Holland later in the year. If cancellation without financial loss is possible now , or in the next few days, some may wish to do so, and I would venture to suggest, should be given the opportunity of doing so. Just because the event might be able to go ahead might not mean that those who were to attend might still want to.Perhaps the situation might well be ,that not many people will want to travel in Setpember.

I for one am very happy with your response and think it much better to be measured and take time rather than cancel outright as many seem to have done. There is always the hope it will dissappear as quickly as it arrived. It is always good to have something to look forward to in 2020 and if it needs cancelling nearer the time then so be it but at least have hope for now.